Preemptive analgesia versus analgesia preventiva

introduction: the postoperative pain is an example of acute pain whose inappropriate control leads to abnormal pathophysiological reactions and it is a delay factor in the recovery of the surgical patient. the tissue damage provoked by the surgical incision creates the continuous entry of afferent impulses modifying the nociceptive process and leads to pathological modulations, peripheral sensitization (hyperalgesia) and central sensitization (allodynia). the surgical intervention is a type of premeditated aggression allowing us to anticipate to appearance of pain and to act on the pathophysiological mechanisms originating it before its total manifestation. objective: to make a review on the published researches on the advantages of the anticipated analgesia on the postoperative analgesia in the treatment of postoperative pain. development: in 1983 woolf posed the concept of anticipated analgesia based in treatment of pain before the surgical stimulus and to maintain this treatment thoroughout the high intensity harmful stimuli and during the postoperative period. the preventive analgesia differs from he anticipated one due to the moment of analgesia's application, which after the damage's establishment which make difficult its review. conclusions: there are many researches to demonstrate the advantages of the anticipated analgesia on the preventive one, but the results are not conclusive.